Ren'Py - Holiday Island [v0.4.5.1] [darkhound1]

So this is the second time i've tried to play this game and i just can't get much past the prologue without tapping out. It's clear a lot of effort went into this game, and there is a lot of content and it seems like if you can push through the mountain of grind there is good stuff with the very hot looking ladies. And as much as I abhor the idea of an "endurance" stat that limits how much you can do i think i could push through the grind if the MC wasn't written as such a ridiculously pathetic letch. Like every two seconds he's stammering over his words because he sees some cleavage. We get it the girls are hot. Apparently picking charming as a beginning perk does nothing to remediate the MCs cartoonish overreaction to hot ladies. Also not super keen on all the sexual content in the first portion of the game consisting of watching the MC jerk off while looking at a tiny picture of one of the girls from the game. Like i said the is a really nice looking game and all the ideas are appealing to me and i'll probably try it again at some point but i feel like the dev could make the beginning of the game a little less shitty without destroying the overall feel of the game. Re-writing the MC to not be a stammering idiot would certainly go a long way.

Edit so i'm adjusting my review a bit since i was able to get through the first bit. As i said the models are great and the girls are fun if a bit superficial from a characterization standpoint, though there are a lot of them so that's a bit understandable. The animations are good but a bit short. The MC is still kind of a goofy anime harem protag always stammering when he sees tits but it's not as bad. The game could really use a good gallery as the one present only contains stills and the events are often random and i have no idea if they are repeatable. You can use saves i suppose but that is far from ideal for a game that the dev is asking you to put this much time and grind into. Definately worth playing though as despite its flaws it can be a fun and sexy game

this game comes down to whether or not you like giganto-titties and I just do not. I was lued into it by the fact that the game asks you what type of women you like at the beginning but this seems to be a red herring. None of my choices seemed to alter which girls I had access to. I'm also not the biggest sandbox fan so this game was always fighting an uphill battle with me. Just not my type of game.

One of my favorites, especially for a rendered sandbox game. The goal of this is to explore and build relationships, so there is no real walkthrough outside of trying to get specific quests done. Nicely done, open ended game that keeps expanding over the years. Been following since the beginning and haven't been disappointed yet.

Pros:

• Nicely done renders, though if you don't like huge breasts you won't enjoy this dreamscape of boobilicious babes
• Open ended, lots to explore and more coming each release!
• Each girl has their own developed personality
• Much as you are a boy toy, you don't feel like one in the game

Cons (with conditions, as noted)

• Grindy, it's worth going through once to understand the mechanics of the game.
• Huge Boobs, for those who don't like them, for those who do - see Pros
• Some girls don't get updates as frequent as others. The Patreon Problem where polls are controlled by donors, want to see more of a girl then donate - otherwise you may wait a long time for more of your favorite

I play three games here regularly. Holiday Island is my no. 1 go to. First off this game is huge!! Lots of content, updates are timely. Artwork top notch. Ducky, Darkhound1.... well done guys .

So impressed by this game I became a high tier subscriptor. Best choice I've made here.

The Girls: First off if your not into Huge Love melons. This isn't the game for you. Interaction with the girls is pretty straight forward for a dating sim. They are not forced on you. Heck you can even send em home.

GamePlay: Interface is easy to use. pretty self explanatory and please and I quote one of my favorite community members. Download the guide. It will make your game play so much easier.

My favorite part of this game besides the game itself is the forum community. I've never met a group of members that are helpful, funny and once they get to know you. Even pick at you.. @SiJa, @Bantry . I love checking in on the forums and just chat or help out the other members with questions from the newbies or ummm those that don't search first. You been warned. please research before posting a question..pleassseee.

Not terrible but the most attractive girls get the fewest scenes. They all have tits about 3x normal. Very slow burn and getting scenes can be tedious.

Quickly gets repetitive. Promising though I suppose.

By far one of my fave games.
Good balance of gameplay, to reward for gameplay.
Good story too.
I like the use of icons over a big map too, keeps the ui simple.

#TeamDeliza and #TeamLacey with more content also #TeamYumiko too.

Probably this review is not going to be popular, but it's OK. I'm used to be criticized in this forum for asking for more quality in games.

The initial premise of this game can't be more simple: a guy wins a lottery and goes to a hotel where he's the only man living with a lot of bimbos and can create his own harem... Well, it's an erotic fantasy like any other, and this kind of games are about erotic fantasies, so no problem here.

Problem is, all feminine characters are generic. I think there are like 20 characters, but they all are mostly the same. Yes, any character has a different 3D model, but that's all. You can have the same conversation with all the characters, and even specific interaction with characters are mostly the same. Some girls are "easier" than others, that's all. You don't even need to remember their names. I would prefer half of the characters, but better done. Not talking about the 3D design (although more diversity in body types would be good, IMO. All girls have big or huge boobs and slim bodies), I'm talking about writing: different personalities, more interesting interactions, more specific conversations, etc. Quality over quantity.

Also, the game has a lot of grind, but that's a common illness in this kind of games and can be reduced by cheat mods. Also, you can avoid with cheat mods the need of unpleasant behavior, like dropping pills into girls' drinks to "increase her lust" o "lower her inhibitions" or hacking their phones. It's just a game, it's OK if you enjoy that your character is an asshole, but shouldn't be a "normal" thing in the game, something that it's expected you do in order of getting the girl. You should be able to play as an ass or as decent guy, and there should be consequences according your choices. Maybe being an ass you could get some girls and lose others... something like that.

Anyway, it's not a terrible game. It´s enjoyable. I just feel it could be way better with a better writing.

Pros:

• Huge & diverse selection of girls
• Sandbox is nice break from most other Renpy.
• Nice mix of minigames peppered in.
• Decent characters

Cons:

• Grindy
• Needs a tutorial. Took me forever to figure some things out.

Final Verdict: Would recommend. 4.5 In my opinion because of grindy nature.

Amazing game, most gorgeous renders I've seen in a game so far. Great variety of girls to interact with, and love the more muscular/fit ones.

Can't recommend this game high enough if you like a sandbox mode to sink hours of time into!

Unlike most of the procedural just keep clicking the mouse button and occasionally make a choice, Holiday Island is a Sandbox style game with lots of content and features.

It has currently 20 characters, not including yourself, and is being added to more and more. the characters are of different styles and appearances, so whatever your preferences you will find a girl to your liking.

It follows a similar path to reality, as in your need to get to know the girl first, talk, ask questions etc before being able to move on to hugging, kissing, and groping. Once the stats of a girl are high enough scenes of a sexual nature become available. and unlike some other reviews state there is a lot of sexual content.

It has mini-games of poker and hotshots, but if you are not a fan of mini-games can be easily cheated inside the game to help you get achievements.

Yes it can be a little grind at times, but that's part of this style of game. However the designer has added a Companion Mod to help if you are impatient and want to rush to the more interesting bits.

In all, a great game, good graphics, good game-play, and is always getting updates with more content.

Been playing this on and off for over two years. Still has next to no sexual content in it. A few scenes, but most of the whole game is boobs, butts and poker. Little story line, although it has been out for three years. Nothing has really changed. The images are nice and the concept isn't bad, But where is the sex ?
Could be so much better.

extremely overrated, yes the renders are good and the gameplay is... well its ok, but for a 2017 game holy hell is there very little content. it's honestly impressive how little there is to do in this game.

almost all you do in this game is just complement the girls, ask them to go on a date, ask them to wear more reveling clothes, and to flash you. that's it, for most of the girls there's no sex, no blowjobs, honestly, you don't really do anything with them except look at there really nicely rendered body's

would not recommend unless you really really really like looking at boobs

This is probably the best game on the site. Lots of different women, interesting game play, and a consistent and talkative developer. It really is a lot of fun and sexy. I have to type more characters apparently for this review to go through so here we go: more characters.

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I keep coming back to this game, then putting it aside again. As a shameless tit man, I should love this game. I can see how much work has gone into each aspect. And yet...

The artwork is incredible. The renders are the best I've ever seen. Darkhound calls himself a renderer first, game designer second, and created this as a vehicle to showcase his rendering work. The girls are absolutely gorgeous. Some of the older models (e.g. Faye) now look a bit crude next to the newer ones (Aly is a work of art), but all the girls are extremely fappable.

But in my head, I keep calling this "the cockteasing game". Most of the interactions with the girls end up leaving you wanting more.

A girl puts her hand on your thigh, tells you how much she likes you - then kisses you goodnight. A girl ends up naked after strip poker, then puts her clothes back on and leaves. You booty call on a girl's room, she gives you a 360 of herself in lingerie then shuts the door in your face.

At first, I thought this was a plot point - the girls had been told to tease you as much as possible but not go all the way, to get as many sperm samples as possible out of you - until I unlocked my first sex scene with Alice.

I don't mind grinding in a dating sim if it feels like each grind gets you closer to getting into the girl's pants - that's what makes dating sims so addictive, There isn't that sense of progress here. The girls' dialogue for conversations, walks along the beach, etc. in the main game is taken from a shared bank of responses, so they all have the same personality. Their memory is reset every day: a girl will fuck your brains out one night, then be mortally offended when you touch her boobs while putting sun tan lotion on her the next day. (Some would say this is realistic for women's personalities, but still...)

You want to be working towards the point where you're in a different girl's bed every night (or a different girl in your bed every night). Here, your reward at the end of many sequences is the girl posing for you - showing the game's origins as a vehicle for showcasing rendering artwork.

I also don't like a few things about the MC's personality. He tells each girl that she's special over the other girls ("They're nothing like you") which would be considered slimy behaviour in the poly communities I know. Nobody on the island's expecting you to be monogamous: just own it. Likewise, in Aly's scene after Hotshots she gives the MC a clear No and he whines at her until she changes her mind, which soured the whole scene for me.

Maybe this will change in later versions. The author's ideas of a questline for each girl sound closer to what I like in a dating sim (although that's an enormous project he's set for himself). For now, I'll just keep watching the updates.

Overall, a well-crafted game with gorgeous art, but playing it is an unsatisfying experience for me.

I don't know, but I can't find other game developed as wholeheartly as this one. Best in assets and gameplay. Spend relatively small space for so many scenes and events. Would be better if we have some mff(s) though.

Alright, here are my 2 cents

What i liked:
+ setting preferences at the start changes the order girls appear: Very creative idea that gives you a bit of control over the order of which girls will appear. Haven't seen something like this before and was pleasently surprised

+ hints on how to get all scenes + gallery: Something that fortunately becomes a standard now, but in Holiday Island many scenes list exact requirement and triggers, which is very useful

+ creative and useful phone functionality: Basically lots of statistics and other stuff like a calendar for appointments. Very well made

+ beautiful renders, lots of beautiful girls in (almost) all shapes and sizes:
Fortunately not Characters have super exaggerated bodyparts. Not that I don't like huge tits but it gets boring. There's a good mix in here

+ nice setting, not too original but still nice

+ periodical new additions to the whole scenario (e. g. a new room that gives you new options so the content doesnt get too repetitive): This is also a great thing. Just when you thought all to do left is grinding, something now comes into the game

+ tons of content: Even not considering the many scenes, there's a lot to do any many interesting and fun minigames

+ good dialogue: Not really comparable to some VNs but for a dating sim pretty good


What i didn't like that much

- anger hard to decrease: Raises easily and there are currently only two ways to decrease it slighty. Imo something that should be adjusted because it can become very frustrating

- not too grindy, but very unintuitive on how to get scenes (had to check hints often): Characters are teasing very often, but its still pretty hard to engage in soem more "advanced" activity. I really think this is a problem most games have. At a specific point, you just become clueless on what to do next and just start playing after a walkthrough, which really kills the fun imo.

- animations subpar: The game looked super promising, but i can't deny that the scenes were a pretty big disappointment. For a game that has so many nice ideas and so much potential, this really pulls it down

- i only know of one use for personal favor: Probably something that gets improved in the future, so nothing big

- company favor ("money") way too grindy to get: Hopefully gets tweaked as well

- practically no female voice acting

- scenes not replayable, only screens: Also something I can't really unterstand since it's pretty standard

Overall great but the animation quality and the fact that I constantly had to check hints cost this game a star.

From the startup 'quickies' to long, drawn out quests this game's got it covered. It's a freakin' GENIUS platform to build on forever.

The artwork gets better with each update. The latest sequence with Amy is some of the best I've seen. The boob storyline gets a little involved in detail sometimes, but it's a fun read to accompany the stunning graphics. This game does concentrate heavily on swayin' mammaries, but except for the ridonculous ones on just a couple of characters the models are top notch.
No real incest (half-sisters) and no fetishes to speak of. Just a guy with complete control of an island full of beautiful women . Of course they all want him and never get jealous. Did I mention the whole thing is funded by a 50-something woman that looks about 30? And her niece. or great niece. Who knows or cares - they're hot!

Game : Holiday Island

• Size : Beyond huge (10000 images and animations)
• Type : Sandbox or Sandbox/story hybrid with a growing focus on story and quest parts (since mid-2019)

Game Details

• Lineup : 20 girls and counting
• Audience : Busty lovers, Consensual, Harem and Mainstream sex.
• Art Quality : Very Good to Exceptional, it doubles as a 3D art project in many ways.
• Status : Exceptional, growing with 300-400 images and animations each 7-9 weeks, for 2½ years on counting.

Deviant Art, Patreon other

• Deviant Art : A large and well illustrated deviant art, which displays art made before the game, easy to get an overview.
• Patreon Site : Yes, of Exceptional quality and fan service (Several updates pr. week, many teasers, high information level, always updated development status).

The ever growing and continuing work of one person (Darkhound1) Holiday Island is a huge and ever expanding game, which can be described as a busty lovers heaven with a tail of more normal (still well endowed ladies).

It is friendly, polite, consensual and has a nice sense of humor and is solidly planted in the mainsteam.

You'll find no forced, corruption or other violent fetich here.

Community
The infinite scope of the game means the forum thread is very old (2017) and also quite active. It has many regulars, guides and allround high standards.

It is more a community than a game thread in some ways.

As with all things Holiday Island, even the comminity is rather unique.

Edit : Updated to reflect render counts mid-2021

I'm giving this game a 3 out of 5 stars. I played it for a while now, and here's why it "only" deserves 3 stars in my oppinion:

Pros:

• Lots of different, very sexy outfits for all girls. I liked that a lot! I'm all into kinky sexy dresses with some slutty high heels. And "kudos" for doing a lot of renders multiple times just to have different scenes work with all the different outfits! I haven't seen any game that does this to this extend!
• Lots of girls to have fun with. I'm usually not into big breasted (=melon sized) girls, but in this game you can basically skip on the ones you don't like and focus on the the ones you like.
• Although this is a sandbox game with many options, you can't do anything wrong. If you screwed up a date with a girl, well, just try it again, you'll probably get the reward you're looking for. You don't have to save/load your way through this game to get the content you want to see.

Cons:

• Some renders are just not as high quality (as in "sharp", "detailed") as others. My guess is that those lower quality renders are from an earlier state of the game? I don't know. I would love to see some of those renders being re-rendered to match the better, higher quality of (newer) renders.
• The animations are "meh", I didn't like them. Most of them are just a bunch of frames (usually only 5-8) played in a loop, so far I've seen only one animation (although it's a short one, too) I really liked Eva in the elevator.
• Because this is a sandbox game with many options, it's very "grindy". I don't mind some grinding in these types of games (if the rewards you're getting are rewarding enough), but I don't like very repetitive tasks (i.e. having to eat three times a day). I wish there would be a greater variety of things to do to boost your (and the girl's) stats.

That being said, the overall experience wasn't too bad. I will most likely play this game again in the future just to check how well it develops.

I wish the developer all the best for this game!